Round the World Jessica Watson in the doldrums

5:05 AM Wed 11 Nov 2009 GMT

'Typical ITCZ squall developing during afternoon hours which can bring welcome winds - often up to 40 knots - after evening falls' . Click Here to view large photo

It was bound to happen, and it's going to happen again. Australian 16-year-old school girl Jessica Watson, setting off to be the youngest circumnavigator non-stop and unassisted, is in the doldrums. As most ocean-going sailors know, the doldrums - or, as it is nattily known these days, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) - is an area of confused wind conditions on each side of the equator.

Jessica at sea before she was becalmed - .. .

In setting out to cross the equator and hence make her earth circling attempt a 'quality' circumnavigation**, Jessica must pass through the ITCZ twice, as it occurs on each side of the equator. It is characterised by periods of complete calm, with storms which mostly develop overnight. While any sailor must miss areas of lightning as much as possible, catching the edges of squalls that usually hit from around 2200 onwards is the best hope for finding wind.

Jessica is now in her first ITCZ band.

Unfortunately, her windvane self-steering system requires some little wind (around 5 knots of wind) to make it work effectively, so if Jessica is to make progress, with less than five knots she must hand steer.

Another of Jessica’s squalls coming - .. .

She has so far covered 2000 miles of her anticipated 23,000 nautical mile journey, and she has estimated her position as around 950 miles from the equator on her current route.

The bad news is, once she has crossed the equator she will turn south, and must cross the ITCZ again.

In the meantime, her Californian counterpart, Abby Sunderland, is racing time - and a money search - to get her newly acquired yacht Wild Eyes to Marina del Rey to commence her similar voyage in December. She, her father and circumnavigator brother are currently sailing Wild Eyes to Florida where they will ship the boat to Ensenada and then sail it to Marina del Rey. There are still extensive repairs and modifications to be done prior to a hoped for mid-December start to get around Cape Horn in fair weather.

**Because traditionally round world sailors come from the northern hemisphere, they have always had to cross the equator twice to reach their home port.

Naturally, Jessica, commencing from Australia, could make her journey much shorter by simply circling the southern hemisphere.

Her PR firm earlier announced that she would make her circumnavigation comparable with the journeys of earlier northern hemisphere circumnavigators by making her own crossing of the equator.

Because of the way the continents lie, it has always been impossible for a sailor commencing in the northern hemisphere to circle the world without reaching the southern ocean, as the seas above Russia and Canada have always been impassable.

by Nancy Knudsen

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